19 November 1997
RICHARDSON: UNSCOM MUST GET BACK TO WORK QUICKLY
(UNSCOM experts brief UN Security Council) (880) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- A special briefing by U.N. weapons experts November 19 proved to members of the Security Council the necessity to get the program to destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction back on track as soon as possible, U.N. diplomats said. U.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson said that "a key conclusion (from the briefing) is the need for the full and immediate restoration of UNSCOM that does important work for the international community in preventing the threat of weapons of mass destruction that the Iraqis continue to perpetuate." Experts from the U.N. Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons (UNSCOM) "said very clearly that continued monitoring and oversight is still needed. Let's rely on the scientists to make that conclusion," Richardson said. The ambassador said that after hearing from UNSCOM he saw no reason to change the long-standing fundamental U.S. position that Iraq must reverse its course on UNSCOM fully and unconditionally. "The objective is very clear -- to prevent the Iraqis from threatening the international community with weapons of mass destruction. Bringing UNSCOM back is the vehicle to achieve that goal," he said. Chemical, biological, and ballistic weapons experts and scientists on UNSCOM staff were joined by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is overseeing the elimination of Iraq's nuclear weapons programs, for the Council briefing. Council members were shown documents and photographs of Iraq's weapons programs and efforts to conceal information from the U.N. They were briefed on the gaps which remain in the complex picture of Iraq's weapons programs. Richardson said that "the conclusion of this briefing is that Iraq has a devastatingly bad record in the areas of chemical, biological and other weapons of mass destruction. Very serious violations were detailed and once again it shows that a pattern of concealment and untruths has been consistent for seven years." UNSCOM weapons experts and Council members agreed, the ambassador said, "first, that Iraq has concealed the truth. Second: Iraqi weapons of mass destruction continue to pose a grave threat and third: UNSCOM and IAEA continue to need to be able to conduct intrusive inspections and maintain their long-term monitoring." Richardson told journalists that during the closed meeting ballistic missiles experts demonstrated that "there is no reason...for the missile files to be closed." Iraq gave misinformation to the U.N. on its ability to produce vehicles to deliver long-range missiles. "In the chemical weapons area, the briefing underscored how -- until it was confronted recently with undeniable evidence -- Iraq continued to deny its VX production capability," the U.S. ambassador said. "Other chemical weapons may also exist and certainly UNSCOM is not in a position to say it has all the information it needs." UNSCOM officials showed photographs of biological weapons production facilities, equipment, and other items discovered only last month, Richardson said. "This is the area where we are farthest from having adequate information from Iraq." UNSCOM officials also showed how Iraq has been conducting its own surveillance on the U.N. weapons inspectors, and how Iraq has been moving critical material while blocking U.N. inspections, the ambassador added. Richardson said he would like the documents and photographs shown to the Council members released to the public. Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, who had initially asked for the briefing, said that while the information provided by the weapons experts was not new to Council members, the meeting showed the necessity of getting UNSCOM back to work. Lavrov took exception with journalists' questions that Russia is being motivated by the desire for economic relations with Iraq, which are currently banned by the Council's wide-ranging mandatory economic sanctions against Baghdad. "I would say there is nothing wrong about being motivated by economic interests provided the means to achieve those interests are entirely legitimate. In this case you know perfectly well that you cannot remove sanctions unless resolutions of the Security Council about disarming Iraq and about insuring safety in the Persian Gulf region are implemented. I believe those aims are unquestionable," Lavrov said. The main purpose of the diplomatic efforts being undertaken has been the same for the last couple weeks, the Russian envoy said, "to ensure that UNSCOM ...can resume unconditionally its full activities in Iraq to implement fully the resolutions of the Security Council leading to the disarmament of Iraq." British Ambassador Sir John Weston also told journalists that the briefing brought out clearly "how important it is to get UNSCOM back to work in Iraq and to pursue the opportunities for finding the political solution for the present impasse because there's a job of great magnitude there that has to be completed." "There are far-reaching implications not only for the region but for the United Nations and for the future of successful arms control," the British ambassador said. The crisis with Iraq began in late October when Baghdad refused to cooperate with UNSCOM if Americans were part of the teams. After diplomatic initiatives failed, Iraq expelled the American members of UNSCOM and the commission's chairman, Richard Butler, pulled out all weapons inspectors except for a skeleton crew watching over the U.N. Baghdad center and helicopters.
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